


Fitz in a suit

by siriuslynotafangirl



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, FitzSimmons Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 14:33:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3137855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslynotafangirl/pseuds/siriuslynotafangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz must wear a suit for a mission, but he can't do his tie.<br/>(for the fitzsimmons secret santa)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part one

A suit. A bloody suit. Why he even had to wear it was beyond him - all he had to do was walk past a couple of guests - surely they could get him in a back way that required a little less dress-up and a little more action? When Coulson had told him he'd be getting back into the field he never imagined this, but his time cooped up in the lab had made him forget that there were the occasional mediocre missions; And it was really no surprise that Coulson would choose an easier one to ease Fitz back into the field.

In this particular mission he, May and skye were to go undercover at a sophisticated party. The plan was simple really: walk in, casually make their way past the guests and get fitz into the back room, where he would disable the security and put a false one in it's place, then leave - all without being noticed. Several other agents would later return and grab some important object from a safe hidden somewhere in the mansion - what, Fitz never asked. There were only a few things that stuck in his mind during the briefing, most predominantly the fact that he had to wear the stupid suit, tie and all.

Now, several hours after the mission briefing, Fitz found himself staring down at the suit laid across his bed. He had never worn it before now, he'd actually only bought it after he decided to go into the field with Simmons, for all he knew, they could have been infiltrating prestigious events every other week, and a well-fitting suit would be necessary for such occasions. Shortly after they had joined the team though, Fitz realised field work was not all as James Bond as he imagined, and the suit hung forgotten in his bunk until now.

He looked down at the suit, stomach churning nervously, silently hoping that the mission would be as simple as promised, remembering his first hands-on experience in the field with Ward. Shaking the memory from his head, Fitz remembered the real reason he had pulled the suit out hours before the mission. The tie.

Before now, Fitz saw no reason to learn the art of doing a tie; if he had been given the mission with more notice he would have set aside the time to learn, but HYDRA was also after whatever was in the safe, and getting it before them became priority, the event held open an opportunity to do so quickly and covertly, but at shorter notice. He was to learn now or never.

After the pod, he hadn't worn one, because despite wearing a tie almost every day he had never actually put it on himself, it was always Simmons who did it for him. Shortly after befriending each other at the academy she had taken it upon herself to change his wardrobe.

 

_Fitz was sprawled across his bed, reading a book on the fundamentals of combustion chambers whilst Jemma was sitting on his desk chair, complaining about one of the other students in her cell manipulation class._

_"It's like he'd never even seen a cell before! How they can continue to let him study here after that I don't know" She complained._

_Fitz continued to read, humming in agreement_

_Simmons rolled her eyes "Fitz, are you even listening?"_

_"Of course i am!" He said, looking up from his book, offended "reading and listening to someone talk to you at the same time isn't easy y'know"_

_"Sorry" she apologised "I'm just so annoyed! There are so many people who work so hard to get into the academy but never make it, and why?" She asked, fists clenching tightly on the edges of the seat and swivelling the chair in exasperation "because someone else had a couple of 'connections' that helped them take that place, even though they clearly aren't smart enough."_

_"You just need to forget about him; make some tea, maybe work some more on your paper. He's the academies problem, not yours" Fitz told her soothingly._

_"Tea would be nice" She agreed, "but I'm not working on my paper any more today, I already did two hours on it earlier"_

_/of course she has/ Fitz thought to himself._

_"Ohh, I know what I can do, I can finally sort out your wardrobe" Simmons said enthusiastically, bouncing up from the chair. "I'm sorry - what?" His head snapped up and he watched her walk across the room to his cupboard_

_"Fitz, your fashion sense isn't exactly the best"_

_"Oh not this again" He sighed, sinking his head back into the pillow "I'm here to learn, not to parade about in ridiculous clothes, and I do try to look presentable in the morning you know"_

_"Fitz, chucking on whatever clean clothes you can find is hardly a commendable effort. You dress like my homeless uncle Jeff" She quipped._

_"I wouldn't go that far really - hang on, do you even have a homeless uncle Jeff" His eyes furrowed in confusion._

_"I would, and no, but if I did I'd imagine he'd dress a right site better than you, and he's homeless" Simmons said, tilting her head and raising her eyebrows in a matter-of-fact way_

_"He's also not real" He remarked._

_"Whatever, I'm going to sort this mess out - including the ones of your floor" She told him, turning to face the mess of clothes in his closet._

_He could see he was not getting out of this, Simmons was on the warpath, and she could not be convinced to otherwise._

_"Fine" he gave in, turning back to his book "do what you want, just don't disturb me whilst you're doing it, I need to finish this for tomorrow"_

_"Of course not" she smiled, pulling several shirts out from his cupboard._

* * *

 

_A couple of days later, Simmons had shown up at his door with a bag of clothes "I took it upon myself to buy you a couple of smart button-up shirts and some ties" She told him, placing the bag on his bed and pulling out the shirts_

_"I'm not wearing a tie" he objected_

_"Yes you are, now quickly, try this on" She said, pushing a shirt into his arms "I'll turn around don't worry"_

_Fitz decided not to argue with her and put on the shirt like she asked "Done?"_

_"Much better already!" she exclaimed "Now for the tie" She said, placing one in his hand_

_Fitz looked down at the tie in disgust, as if she had just handed him an organ from her dissected animals "Simmons, I'm not-"_

_"Fitz if you want to be a genius, you should at least dress like one"_

_"It's not just that, I uhm... don't know how to do a tie" he admitted, feeling the tips of his ears turn pink in embarrassment "Well then why didn't you just say?" she took the tie from his hands, narrowing her eyes and shaking her head in confusion, doing it for him. "There" she beamed "you look like you're ready to learn"_

 

Every morning since then, she would come to his room before classes started, he would make tea and she would do his tie, and it was something they carried on throughout their friendship, like some peculiar ritual, so Fitz had never actually needed to learn how to do a tie, Simmons was always there to do it for him.

He considered going to Simmons for help, but decided against it; the last time they had spoke was the argument they had following Simmons asking to help fix her drive from HYDRA, their friendship wasn't exactly in a good place, and he felt immensely guilty he'd made her cry. He could not face her again, no, this was something he'd have to learn himself.

Remembering the task at hand, Fitz hesitantly reached down for the tie and brought it around his neck, and with a deep breath attempted to do it up. As expected, he did not get it first time around, but he did not let the failure bother him - at least not to start off. With every attempt he felt his optimism diminish and his anger and frustration rise.

An hour on and he was completely void of optimism and filled with overwhelming indignation, his hands trembling with anger, only making it much more difficult to tie.

despite his difficultly, he refused to give up. He wasn't even sure he was doing it right, and when he did come close to completing it, his bad hand would act up, he'd loose grip of the tie and it would fall apart. He knew that he could easily ask Mack or Skye would to do his tie for him before he left, but the thought of having to ask his team members to do something as simple as his tie for him seemed absolutely ludicrous.

Sighing, he took the tie into his hands once more, carefully overlapping the ends and keeping his fingers clasped firmly on the thin piece of fabric to assure it did not evade his grip again. "This is ridiculous" He grumbled to himself as he worked "I'll be in there for two bloody minutes - nobody will even notice me, what's the point?" he complained, his voice rising as he progressed. When he reached the point of making the knot, he could feel his fingers slowly start to loose grip, and before he could make the final loop he had lost complete control; the tie slipped between his fingers, the knot slackened and the tie hung loosely around his neck.

"I can't do this" he muttered, pulling the tie from his neck and kicking the leg of his bed out of frustration. What would people say about him? he could just imagine it - 'Leo Fitz, one of the academies youngest graduates to date- defeated by a tie.'

The anger and frustration that bubbled at the pit of his stomach began to rise; threatening to boil over and cause an outburst of rage.

_I just need a break_ . He told himself _-yes a break - have some tea, calm down, and start again_.

With several deep, shaking breaths Fitz stood and headed for the kitchen.


	2. Part 2

He did not notice how late at night it was until he had left his room, the base was notably quieter, with only several agents patrolling the corridors. He glanced down at his watch and found it was 1 o'clock in the morning, which he was thankful for, because it meant he would not run into anyone he knew, and could take the time to calm down alone.  
  
He carried on slowly down the corridor,  still muttering to himself about the daft tie when he entered the kitchen.  
  
Upon entering he stopped in his tracks, there was already someone else in here. He could not tell who it was in the dim lighting, the small figure was sitting at island, back hunched over what looked like a file and a mug next to it, he took several small, silent steps towards the silhouette, but before he could figure out who it was, they had already looked up  
  
"Oh, hello Fitz, I didn't see you there" she smiled tentatively.   
    
Simmons.  
  
"J-Jemma" He stuttered, slightly surprised to find her up at this time at night "What are you doing up"  
  
"I couldn't sleep" she confided "so I decided to come down, have some tea and do some work"   
  
There was a moments silence, and although Fitz believed Simmons, he could tell something was wrong. He walked forward a few steps and sat at the opposite side of the island to her, her hair was pulled up  into a messy bun, and he could see the fatigue evident in her face; her eyes were bloodshot, and slightly sunken; weighed down by the sags beneath them.   
  
"Oh, right" he said  
  
The room fell to silence once more, but it wasn't the comfortable kind, it was awkward, full of tension and a thousand unspoken words that dangled delicately on strings above them, and none of them spoke, too scared to break the strings. Fitz looked down and fumbled sheepishly with the tie in his hands.  
  
They sat like this for another minute, before Fitz chanced a glance and looked back up to her, she had returned to her file. He considered taking that moment to get up and run out of there, but that would only make things more awkward between them.  
  
Remembering why he had come down there in the first place, he put down the tie, got out of his seat and headed for the kettle, happy to take his mind away from the awkward situation at hand  
  
"So what's with the tie?" He heard her ask  
  
Fitz turned and saw she'd put the file down once more and was now turning the tie between her hands."Oh-uhm, the mission, tomorrow, I -I have to wear a suit. We're going undercover" He told her, looking back to put the kettle on boil.  
  
"A suit? Oh gosh how exciting! I don't think I've ever seen you in a suit" She started gleefully "Although  there was that party at the academy - you didn't wear a suit though, you wore a kilt, didn't you?" She recalled, stifling a little giggle.  
    
"Yeah I did" He laughed "That was a mistake, what was I thinking?"  
  
"It wasn't that bad" she reassured "I think you looked very handsome"  
  
Fitz was glad he wasn't facing her, because he started to feel the heat flood his cheeks "yeah right" He scoffed "I was the laughing stock at that party. I looked ridiculous"  
  
Simmons sighed "Fitz, you should have more confidence in yourself"  
  
Fitz opened his mouth to reply, but found no words coming to him. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with her, he knew it would turn bad, so he conceded, closed his mouth and returned to making the tea.  
  
"So, I assume you are trying to learn how to do your tie" Simmons said after a while, not pressing him for a reply on her previous comment, for which he was thankful.  
  
"Yeah, but I can't, do it" He told her "I don't know how. I thought I was close at one p-point, but my hand, it uhm... it didn't - it wasn't"  
  
"Co-operating?" She finished  
  
"Exactly" he said, turning around and placing a mug of tea in front of her.  
  
"You made me tea?" she asked, looking down at the mug  
  
"Yeah - I guess I did." Fitz realised, feeling slightly awkward again and noticing the other mug still next to her "Oh, you already have one - sorry I just did it without thinking - I should have asked"  
  
"Oh that one? I finished it hours ago, I was meaning to make another but I got a little caught up reading the file" She reassured  
  
"That's okay then"  
  
"Thank you" she smiled, taking a sip.   
  
Fitz looked up to meet Simmons' gaze and smiled weakly, taking several gulps of his own tea to abate his nerves.  
  
"You know, if you need some help with your tie, I could help you" She suggested.  
  
"I don't need help. I have to do this myself" He snapped, regretting it immediately, seeing the hurt in Simmons's eyes.   
  
"Fitz how do you expect to recover if you can't even accept a little help?" She chided.  
  
"I've had enough help, Simmons. I need to prove I can do things on my own"  
  
"You've already done that." She said, recoiling back and peering up at him through her lashes "Coulson wouldn't take you on a mission if he didn't think you couldn't do things on your own, and anyway it's not like I'll actually be doing it for you, you just need to build up a muscle memory." She continued, raising her eyebrows in realisation "Since I always used to do it for you, you won't have one. so please, just let me show you how to do it, and then you can practice all you like. You'll be doing it yourself in no time." She pleaded  
  
He could see how much she wanted to help him, and admittedly, he could use it. "Okay" he agreed at last.  
  
Jemma got up from her seat and walked to the other side of the counter and stood in front Fitz. "Okay" She smiled, taking the tie in her hands and starting to do it up for him.                
  
Fitz felt his stomach flip several times. Not only was this the longest conversation they had managed to have without upsetting one another since she returned, but the closest they had been physically as well. On her return Jemma had placed her hand on his should in comfort, but he demanded she remove it and not touch him again. In hindsight he realised he was rather harsh in his request, and that in all their interactions since Jemma's return, all he did was upset her. He owed it to her to let her help. He could feel Jemma's breath tickle his collar bone as she worked, sending shivers down his spine, and she smelled like lavender, just like she always did.  He watched her hands work effortlessly at the tie and then up at her face. Her mouth moving slightly as she silently recited how to do a tie, her brows were knitted in concentration and her eyes focused.   
  
Fitz could not bring himself to look away from her eyes. He always thought looking into her eyes was much like looking into a space; each light fleck of colour a star, every dark fleck a planet, collectively coming together in a way that was not unlike a galaxy - all being pulled into the  
gravity of her pupil - which at this close proximity he notices is slightly dilated. He saw a world reflected in her eyes, and despite his previous conversation with Mack and Lance, he still longed to be a part of it.  
  
"There we go, done" Simmons said, taking a step back to admire her work "See, it's not all that hard, you just need to build up the muscle memory."  
  
"I- uhm, yeah" He agreed, looking down at the finished tie on his neck, mouth slightly agape and silently cursing himself for staring at her instead of watching what she was doing. He'd have to Google how to do it. Fitz looked back up to thank her, but what he saw knotted his stomach in guilt.  
  
Simmons was biting her lip nervously, shoulders tense and rocking lightly back and forth on the balls of her feet, looking about ready to receive an angry earful from Fitz on why he found her help demeaning and unnecessary. Had he really made her feel this way? That she could not even help her friend without being berated?  
  
"Thank you, Jemma" He smiled sincerely.  
  
Simmons' features visibly softened; her shoulders relaxed, a small smile breaking out on her face and nose crinkling up in the most adorable way, causing Fitz's breath to hitch.  
  
"You're welcome" she beamed, "I really should go to sleep now though." She said, walking back to grab her mug "Thanks for the tea."  
  
Fitz watched as Simmons walked to the door "Goodnight Fitz" She called back, before pushing the door open and disappearing into the  hallway.  
  
Fitz let out a deep breath, which he did not realise he was holding until then.  
  
"Goodnight Simmons."


	3. Part 3

Simmons was sitting on the edge of the cargo hold, watching the team before the mission. Skye was talking to May and Coulson, Bobbi and Lance were arguing indiscreetly over something, as per usual, and Fitz was talking to Mack whilst working on one of the DWARFs.  
  
What had happened the night before played through her head a thousand times, the instant she stepped out of the kitchen. From the awkward silence, the warm feeling at the pit of her stomach she got when he'd made her tea,  to him allowing her to help, and now she watched him as he worked away, wearing the suit, tie and all.  
  
He looked good.    
  
The suit was one he had bought before they joined the team, she remembered, but she'd never seen it on. It fit him comfortably, hugging his body in the all right places. He had the jacket unbuttoned, and she could see the few muscles he possessed flex beneath the thin white fabric of the shirt as he moved. As he bent over to pick up a dwarf, the jacket rode up and she couldn't help but notice how the suit really did accentuate all his curves...  
  
Simmons shook her head.  
  
No. No she couldn't think that. He looked fine. Normal - No more attractive than usual. Not that she found him attractive in the first place. They were just friends. Maybe a while ago Fitz had liked her as something more,  but it had been months since then. She had left. He got better without her. She wouldn't be surprised if he turned around and told her he didn't want anything to do with her any more really. If anything that was the more understandable option.    
  
She had never liked him like that, and she wasn't about to start now. Even if he did look really nice in that damn suit.  
  
She was brought out of her thoughts by a  figure obstructing her view  
  
"Simmons!" the figure scolded "Close your mouth, people will think you're staring"  
  
She looked up to find a smirking Skye standing in front of her  
  
"I- what? I have no idea what you're on about" She lied feebly  
  
"Save it for someone who'll believe you" Skye said, sitting next to her "Every time I looked over when I was speaking to Coulson, you were gawking at him."  
  
Simmons looked at the ground, feeling her cheeks burn red. "I wasn't staring"  
  
"y'know, when we all found out you were undercover with HYDRA, I had my doubts. You can't lie. At all." She said, raising her eyes matter-of-factly "I was worried for you." She confessed "But May was convinced you were better at it - good enough to keep yourself alive for a while at least, but I don't see it, you're still a terrible liar" She laughed.  
  
Simmons smiled to herself, remembering the Sitwell incident. personally, she felt as though her lying skills had improved drastically since then.   
  
"Well, I must be good enough if they let me go" She said "Is there any reason you came over here to see me, other than ridicule me?"  
  
"Yup, Coulson wants you to prep the med bay" She informed her  
  
Simmons turned to look at her "I thought this was a safe mission? that nobody would get hurt?" She said, concerned   
  
"Don't worry, it's just a precaution" Skye reassured "I'm sure there will be a few security guards we'll have to knock unconscious on our way to the back room, but if we play our cards right, everyone will be fine"  
  
Simmons sighed in relief, looking back at the floor "Good"  
  
"Hey, Fitz will be okay, he can handle himself" Skye said, rubbing her back reassuringly.  
  
Simmons opened her mouth to deny her concern for Fitz when Skye continued  
  
"Speaking of, He's headed over this way now, So I think I'll go talk to Mack, give you two some alone time" She winked  
  
"Wait, Skye don't-" Simmons panicked, standing up after her  
  
"You can thank me later" Skye called back as she walked away   
  
Simmons sighed and rolled her eyes. Typical.   
  
She contemplated walking after Skye, pretending she didn't see Fitz head their way, but his quiet, shaking voice stopped her before she could take her first step "Jemma?"   
  
Simmons took a deep breath and turned to face him"Hello Fitz."  
  
"What was that all about?" He asked curiously and gesturing towards Skye  
  
"Oh that? Nothing important, just Skye winding me up." she explained  
  
"Yeah she does that a lot" He nodded in agreement.  
  
Simmons was thankful for his blatant disregard to her and Skyes not-so-private and painstakingly obvious discussion about him, and his apparent oblivion to her earlier 'gawking', which now that she thought about it she could have been more discreet.   
  
She was quickly pulled away from her thoughts on her carelessness when she spotted the perfect Windsor knot from the corner of her eye. "I see you did your tie" she beamed up at him, feeling a burst of pride.  
  
"Y-yeah, I did" He smiled proudly, looking down to admire his handy work "That's actually why I came over here" He admitted "I-I wanted to uhm..." he clicked his fingers and looked down at the floor. Simmons could see he was struggling for his words, but waited patiently, not wanting a repeat of the HYDRA hard drive incident.  
  
"I wanted to thank you" he blurted, finally finding his words "I couldn't have done it without your help"  
  
The warm feeling at the pit of her stomach she felt the night before began to return.   
  
"It was no problem really" She said, blinking back the tears of joy in her eyes, realising that maybe she didn't need to spend all those months away from HYDRA. "Really it was you who did all the hard work after all."  
  
"Wheels up in five" May called, cutting their conversation short  
  
Fitz fidgeted awkwardly with his hands for a moment "I - uh, better go get b-buckled in" He said, turning to walk away.  
  
Simmons stepped forward hesitantly, suppressing the urge to pull him back into a tight embrace. It would be a bold move, too forward considering the current circumstances of their friendship. She remembered her conversation with Mack, that Fitz had told people she left because she didn't return his feelings. That she didn't care. No, he could not leave again with the same mindset. He needed to know that people cared, that  _she_  cared.  
  
"Wait!" simmons said, grabbing ahold of his hand before he could walk away. Fitz jerked away slightly at the unexpected contact, staring down at their clasped hands. Simmons felt her stomach churn nervously, embracing herself for worst. His eyes remained locked on their hands for a moment more, before they raised, his gaze searing into her face.  
  
Relieved, she took a small step forward, keeping her hands intertwined with his. "You'll be safe?" she asked, inwardly cringing at the redundancy of the question.   
  
His face became somewhat unreadable; a mix of both determination and resignation. Simmons also thought she caught his begin to glass over, but he had looked back down at their hands before she could be sure. "Of course" He mumbled.  
  
Simmons smiled and leaned forward to give him a light kiss on the cheek "Good luck"  
  
Fitz's face erupted into a bright crimson glow, and for a moment Simmons was sure he was about to turn and sprint away, but to her relief he shakily raised his free hand and rested it on top of hers, in what she assumed to be a comforting way, before letting to and making his way up the ramp and taking his seat in the cargo hold bay.  
  
As the ramp closed, Fitz turned to look at Simmons with a weak smile, his cheeks still pink and eyes not fully meeting her gaze.  Simmons returned the smile, nodded her head in reassurance and watched as the plane began to pull away, confident he would return safely.


End file.
